BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- The Samford basketball team is dreaming of island breezes, white beaches...and team unity.

Samford basketball coach Scott Padgett said he and his basketball players are excited about the opportunity to participate in games on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday in the Summer of Thunder competition being hosted by the Bahamas Basketball Federation.

The team left Saturday morning from Birmingham on their flight to the Bahamas.

It's an opportunity, Padgett said, to have real games to play in during the summer and to also have fun as a team.

With new faces throughout the program, that team-building is important.

"When I got the job, I knew I was going to have seven new guys after we got finished signing," Padgett said. "I knew I'd need to put in a whole new system, so I had the suggestion to set up this trip to help it along."

Padgett said that the trip lets his players have game situations earlier than usual, and allowed him to have a summer practice session to get started early on his new system.

"This trip will put us in game situations, so that in October when practice rolls around it's not like we're installing it with no preparation," he said. "

Even more importantly, he said, the trip gives the players an opportunity to build friendships while having fun.

"We'll get to experience the Bahamas, stay in a nice place and get to have quality time with each other," he said.

The Summer of Thunder competition draws teams from throughout the world, and involves semi-pro teams and elite junior national teams.

"Because of the types of teams, we can compete here," Padgett said. "And you never know what the competition will be like. It could be really good or could be just okay. The important thing is that we're having game competition against someone other than ourselves."

Samford will play against the Real Deal Shockers, Atlantis All-Stars and the Commonwealth Giants

Padgett said that just three players had passports, so the trip is a new experience for most of his team.

When he was a player at Kentucky, Padgett said that the team traveled overseas on a similar trip and it had a huge impact on all the players.

"We went to Italy after my freshman year," he said, "and it did wonders for our team."

According to Padgett, the preparation for this week's trip is exactly what he hoped for.

"Practice for the trip was exactly what we're hoping for. The hard work was getting through the last practice Friday, but now it's about going to play real games," he said.